3 time wasting monsters

Personal conversation

This is the most dangerous monster that covertly follows you everywhere, which you always fail to notice until it’s already late. You can find this monster lurking around in your office and even in your home. It makes you feel that you are doing some important discussion, but the fact is you are not. You are just wasting time talking about your personal stuff when you should be working on the project at hand.

There is a time and place for personal discussion. Confine it there only. Do not let it disturb your work schedule.

Frequently checking e-mails

E-mails are important, and some are very important. But none of them is as important as the work you have at your hand, so it will be more fruitful to spend time on doing the work than checking mails, regularly.

Make a mail checking routine. I would suggest checking your mails once or twice a day, but if you expect important mails throughout the day or if you cannot live without browsing through your inbox then check your mail 4 times a day, at max. Do not let this monster kill your time.

Breaks

Taking breaks during a day is important, as it help you energize yourself. A break helps you remove your thought from the project, and hence get a fresh perspective on the subject matter, when you get back to it after the break. But frequent or too many breaks do not allow you to come back to the subject matter, ruining the purpose of the break itself.

Too many breaks create distraction, so avoid indulging in that. In fact, I will suggest you to make a “break taking” plan around your work schedule. This will keep you on track, and the plan will keep this “time wasting” monster contained.

These 3 monsters should be avoided at any cost, if your goal is to do anything with your life.

Everything starts in the phone call that you receive, notifying you that you’ve been chosen for an interview.  Make sure that you write down the information on when and where the interview will be taking place.  Jot down the time as well.  Then make sure to find out any documentation that you need to bring to interview.  Before ending the conversation, make sure to double check the time and place, and the documents you’ll need.  The worst first impression you can make for an interview, is to show up late.

If you aren’t already familiar with the location of the interview, it’s a good idea to look up directions and do a run through.  See how long it takes to get to the interview site, and learn the route.  That way when the day comes you don’t risk being late by aimlessly looking for the location, or getting into unexpected traffic.

Now to the interview outfit.  It’s best to pick your outfit in advance, so that you know what you are going to wear, and aren’t forced to figure anything at the last minute.  Choose something professional, that’s clean and tidy.  An outfit that fits you well, and that is free of stains or tears.

Finally, on the day of the interview, be sure to leave early.  The worst thing you can do at an interview, is show up late.  Many interviewers won’t hire an applicant that can’t show up to an interview on time.  Keep that on time, and show up 10-15 minutes early.  That way you show yourself to be prepared, and committed to the job opportunity.

The army for freelance professionals or freelance entrepreneurs is growing, and with it is emerging the issues related to freelancing. One very important issue is of having a fixed time and place to work in. Most of the people started freelancing in order to use their talent or skills to get out of 9-5 rat race, and indeed they have succeeded in doing so. They have broken the time-shackle and with it they have broken the space-shackle as well. Now, they do not have a fix place to work in. Is it good? Not necessarily!

Not having a fix time and place to work means, you can work anywhere and anytime, but in reality it turns out to mean not working at anyplace and anytime. In the absence of one designated place to work in, we end up working nowhere. That is not our fault that is how we are wired to behave.

In order to be more efficient or to work properly, we need to have a proper place to sit and work. If you have a designated place and time to sit and work then long before you take your first step towards that designated place, your unconscious mind starts preparing your body for the task. This priming doesn’t happen in the absence of a designated place and time to work in.

As you have left your day job, you must not have any office to go to. In this situation, you need to make a small home office in any corner of your house where you can go to work. Your office is not supposed to host a big cabin like the one your boss had in your office, you just need a small space where you can put everything that you need to do your work.

What do you think, is a small home office is a must for every freelancer? Use the comment box to share your view on this.